<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>War of Hearts (I Can't Help But Love You) by Pixiepeekboo</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641384">War of Hearts (I Can't Help But Love You)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixiepeekboo/pseuds/Pixiepeekboo'>Pixiepeekboo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Couple goals, F/M, Fanfic, Fluff, Klaroline, Vampires, relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:47:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixiepeekboo/pseuds/Pixiepeekboo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus joins Caroline while she shops for lingerie. Feelings are felt. Emotions emote. Chemistry occurs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Klaroline - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>War of Hearts (I Can't Help But Love You)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What are you doing?” Klaus whooshed up behind Caroline, standing so close her neck prickled with electricity. She tossed her hair, just to show him that she wasn’t bothered and lifted the hanger from the rack.<br/>
“Buying lingerie,” she said, half turning to look at him.<br/>
His eyes widened, filled with wicked amusement. “Love,” he said, reaching around her to grab at the hanger. She held it outside his reach. It was all lace and frills, covered in tiny pink and yellow embroidered flowers. It wasn’t something she’d normally consider, but she was tired of being careful, sensible Caroline. She wanted to be a little wild. The trouble with being wild, however, was that you attracted wild things, like the young man leaning over her left shoulder.<br/>
She pushed him away with her hip. Replacing the hanger on the rack, she moved to another section. She needed something even more daring, something that would make even Klaus’s jaw drop. At this point, she was sure he’d seen everything the world had to offer. It was true, there were girls in town who looked at him, drinking in the way his blonde curls fell so sloppily against his forehead, the dangerous gleam in his blue eyes, or the way his smile was an invitation to an alternate universe. And she had no right to care who fancied him or not, because she was not interested and he was insane, and she had better things to do. Like seduce simpering college boys.<br/>
She lifted a gorgeous black piece from the rack. The black mesh reminded her of snowflakes- intricate and delicate. Almost decadent, in the sheer sexiness of it. She held it against herself, biting her bottom lip as she considered.<br/>
Klaus coughed. Caroline glanced up. “What?” she said, “You don’t think I can pull it off? Because listen up, you hybrid jerk, I totally can.”<br/>
He rubbed a hand over his jaw, eyes locked on hers. In spite of her will, she watched the desire darken his eyes. He shook his head once, slightly, as if he was trying to break free from his thoughts. Caroline smirked, pretending not to notice, and said, “You know what? I’m going to prove it to you. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him after her toward the dressing rooms. There was one other girl lingering by the door. Her eyebrows lifted at their approach. Caroline leaned forward.<br/>
“You have somewhere else to be,” she told her.<br/>
The girl immediately left. The rest of the dressing room was deserted. Caroline pushed Klaus against the wall outside the far stall and ordered him to wait. He looked at her like he was about to catch fire. It electrified every single nerve in her body and she considered – no. She was not considering anything. This was Klaus. He was an absolute madman and she wasn’t about to do something stupid, like fall for him. She was only proving a point. That she could be sexy if she wanted to be. She didn’t always have to be this straight-laced, perfect girl who always made the best choices. She wanted to be a little risky this time.<br/>
She closed the door and stripped out of her clothes. Klaus moved restlessly against the other side.<br/>
“Love,” he said, in that way that made her bones melt. She paused, standing in nothing but her underwear with an extremely handsome hybrid on the other side of a very breakable door.<br/>
“Calm down. It’s been like, ten seconds. I’m almost done.”<br/>
He released a keening sound that sent a quiver down her spine. She paused, amazed by the rippling aftermath that knocked her knees together.<br/>
“To be quite honest,” he said, “I don’t know if I can wait that much longer.”<br/>
She shook her desire away. “Please.” She gave a snort. “What are you, a thousand years old? You can wait a measly minute while I change. After this, I should be done shopping and you can return to your hybrid posse, or whatever you call it.” With a breath, she pulled on the lingerie. The bottoms were fun – lacy and silky, with a sequence of straps around the hips and climbing one more loop, toward her stomach. The top was low, with a ribbon tying the front together, and the straps gracefully joining at the back in another bow. It was chic and classy and she was a little amazed by how comfortable she was wearing it. She looked stunning.<br/>
Klaus rattled the door. “Caroline, if you don’t come out this second,” he started.<br/>
She opened the door. “Calm down, wolf boy,” she said, “A girl’s gotta,” but she couldn’t finish the thought. It trailed away from her lips and her brain and everything. “Oh,” she said.<br/>
There were times, of course there were, when she became aware of how attractive he found her. It wasn’t exactly a secret in their social circle. Their friendship was a strange one – one of constant manipulation and juxtaposition. But the thing was, she always forgave him and he always made himself forgivable. And then there was also this: when he looked at her like this her heart swelled so big in her chest it felt like she couldn’t even breathe. She’d never had anyone look at her like that her entire life. She’d never wanted anyone as badly as him her entire life.<br/>
“Do you like it – Klaus?” she said his name as an afterthought, tagging it on because it looked as though he wasn’t even listening.<br/>
She watched his eyes – the decontructing eyes of an artist – follow the curve of her calf up her thigh, glazing over her stomach and chest until finally reaching her face. His expression was open, vulnerable, hungry. It made her a little high, knowing that she was the one who had master over that look.<br/>
“How do you like it?” she asked, smirking. “Do I look irresistible?”<br/>
“Caroline – I – you – what,” his gaze swept down her body again. Again. Again. Their eyes locked. She slowly let the door close behind him and locked it.<br/>
“Bloody gorgeous,” he said.<br/>
Caroline skimmed a fingertip across the top of his hand. The veins jumped against her touch and he released another low note. Satisfaction drummed through her. He couldn’t help himself around her and she loved it. Loved it more than she would ever admit to anyone. He was the forbidden bad boy. She wasn’t supposed to want him. She definitely couldn’t have him. What would her friends think of her? What would she think of herself for being so weak as to – as to –<br/>
“What are you thinking, right now?” she asked.<br/>
“That I want you.”<br/>
It surprised her. She jumped a little. “Klaus,” she started to turn away from him but found she couldn’t; his eyes were hypnotic. “We’ve been over this. I’m not ready to see anyone, not after what happened to Tyler.”<br/>
“Okay, then,” he said, surprising her again. His hands slipped out from underneath her. She mourned the lack of him until his hands were on her again, fingers pushing through the straps of silk on her hips. She looked down at his fingers and then back up at him. He looked criminal, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.<br/>
She would test it, on him. She would pretend this was how she would seduce that scrappy college kid from across the hall, the one whose name was Joey or John. It was purely scientific, like an experiment following a hypothesis. She brought her mouth to his cheek. His stubble was rough under her lips. She sighed against his skin.<br/>
“What are you thinking?” he said, echoing her question. His eyes were closed and he stooped even closer to her, making everything she wanted of him accessible. “What do you want, Caroline? What do you want?”<br/>
“You,” she whispered, and opened her mouth against his.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>